| "Penny
Dreadful" DVD
Penny Dreadful--it's
a really, really old term describing a kind of horrific postcard
that cost a penny. It was one of the predecessors to the modern
horror movie, so thank the penny dreadful, kids.
And on this penny dreadful, we get a girl named Penny (wow, whatta
coincidence, huh?) who survived a car wreck not so long ago. Now,
out for a long car ride to face her fears, she finds herself running
afoul of a mysterious hitchhiker who manages to prey on those
fears. And of course, Penny's got to try and survive this in one
piece.
"Penny Dreadful", first off, has the second best menu
yet, only behind the incredible spectacle "Gravedancers"
put on.
Also, in what is a masterstroke of creative application, "Penny
Dreadful" manages to supply the single most reasonable excuse
for picking up a hitchhiker that I've ever seen. We're all, ALL,
aware of the dangers of such an act, including and especially
in horror movies. But this time around, they've supplied a perfectly
valid reason to pick him up, and I have to applaud "Penny
Dreadful" for pulling that off.
The combination of Penny's fear of cars, and the absolute necessity
of using the car to escape, and the fact that she'll spend a little
time trapped in one, come together wonderfully to make a very
tense environment. This tension adapts very easily to full-blown
fear, making "Penny Dreadful" a very scary story. In
fact, they manage to keep the tension high almost throughout the
movie, giving it a very grueling, "Misery"-esque feel
to it.
The ending actually managed to be downright uplifting, which was
just truly amazing, especially for a horror movie. There are,
rarely, such simple applications of pure justice in horror movies
and "Penny Dreadful" makes the short list. Plus, of
corurse, your good old fashioned twist ending will make its welcome
appearance.
The special features include a behind the scenes featurette, a
music video, a teaser trailer for "Penny Dreadful",
and trailers for the After Dark Horrorfest, "The Hamiltons",
"Dark Ride", "Reincarnation", "Gravedancers",
"Unrest", and "Wicked Little Things".
All in all, "Penny Dreadful" is a nice, clever little
packet of thrills and scares. The constant tension is pulled up
with nothing less than skill, though it's certainly not over the
top. Anybody with even a vague interest in suspense titles should
get a real bang out of "Penny Dreadful".
Penny
Dreadful
***
DVD
Directed by Richard Brandes
Written by Diane Doniol-Valcroze, Arthur Flam, Richard Brandes
Starring Rachel Miner, Chad Todhunter, Mickey Jones, Liz Davies
Produced by Andrew Weiner, Braxton Pope
R
92 mins
2007
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